Mountain View Voice

News - May 11, 2012

Crime Briefs

Indecent exposures

Police are searching for a man they believe exposed himself to a local middle-school-aged girl twice in the span of about 14 months.

The first incident was February, 2011, and the second on May 7, Mountain View police spokeswoman Liz Wylie said. The victim told police the man was driving in a red Jeep, and had a similar haircut and overall look both times.

The girl, who was 12 at the time of the first incident, never told anyone what she saw, Wylie said. She said she was walking home from school near the Whisman Sports Pavilion on Middlefield Road when a man pulled up alongside her and exposed himself while he sat inside his red SUV, which police believe may be a Jeep Cherokee. The girl ran away.

On Monday, May 7, the now 13-year-old girl was walking home from Crittenden Middle School, at about 3:30 p.m., when a man driving a red Jeep pulled up next to her and exposed himself while he sat in the vehicle, Wylie said. The girl fled and this time reported what she had seen to her parents and the school.

The girl described the man as in his 50s, with medium-length gray hair and a gray mustache, wearing a black baseball cap, a gray shirt and blue shorts, Wylie said. The man did not try to lure the girl into the Jeep either time.

Police have released a composite sketch of the man, which is online at mv-voice.com. Officers are welcoming tips — anonymous or not — from the community. Anyone with information may call 650-903-6395.

"Although this case sounds a little odd at first, given the description of the suspect is the same in both cases even though the crimes occurred one year apart, the MVPD believes both of these crimes occurred," Wylie wrote in an email to the Voice.

Break-in spree

Residents of three separate units in a local apartment complex each filed police reports May 8 — all of them reporting that electronic devices had been stolen while they were out, police said.

The apparent burglaries all occurred at The Americana Apartments, located in the 700 block of Continental Circle between 7:45 a.m. and 7 p.m., said Liz Wylie, public information officer with the Mountain View Police Department.

In the first incident, a Macbook Pro laptop, Vaio laptop, Playstation 3, Citizen wristwatch, an iPod Touch and jewelry and clothing were stolen from the third-floor apartment, Wylie said. The door to the apartment was locked when the victims left for work in the morning, but it was found unlocked when they returned home. There was no sign of forced entry.

At press time, the full police report hadn't been written in the second incident, Wylie said, but small electronic items were also stolen,.

In the final incident, a Macbook Pro laptop, a Macbook laptop and an Ausprey hiking backpack were stolen from a third-floor apartment, Wylie said. Again, the front door was locked when the victims left in the morning and there was no sign of forced entry.

Wylie said investigators are looking into the possibility that the incidents are related.